Caged
by midnightgamin
Summary: When it is hard to distinguish reality from insanity, what does a Flame Haze do? Being locked within the fortified walls of Seireiden and knowing what is about to unfold, her own demon battles her. Shana is left with a question that would determine her existence: what does it take to be the Perfect Flame Haze?


Disclaimer: I don't own Shakugan no Shana.

Fire and Ice

By Robert Frost

_Some say the world will end in fire_

_Some say in ice_

_From what I've tasted of desire_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if it had to be perished twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_To say that for destruction_

_Ice is also great_

_And would suffice._

"Seireiden…" she whispered in the blowing wind, as if the Beautiful Whim, Pheles would know where to find and rescue her. Her brown eyes scanned the whole area through the high balcony. It was the same scene as before. The enemy troop is taking turns to secure the floating palace and once every minute two or more pairs of eyes would glare her way. She went back inside, satisfied that whatever means of escape are futile without Neitono no Shana in her hand and Alastor by her side.

To feel useless and utterly normal made her impulsiveness and irritability a drawback. The young girl paced around the room wishing Alastor was there to calm and reassure her. But what does she know. The Flame of Heaven decided to accompany _him_.

Her wrist itched at the Tartaros chain. In her anger she smashed the dressing table mirror with her right fist. The pain made her feel alive. Her blood dribbled down the shattered mess. The black haired girl shook her hand like the pain was nothing more than a scratch. That small form of rebellion was all she could do. For months she had been catered by several Rinne maid servants. Dressed her in garbs she did not like, even forced her to eat. One Rinne had the atrocity to slap her. A Rinne? Slap her? Her teeth gritted in anger. It was sickening her to be ordered around by the bunch she hunted down for years. Especially by _him_. Shana had been in Seireiden for too long, not exactly knowing how long.

She sighed. It did no good for her to break anymore stuff. The Rinne maids let her do as she pleases. They would come to clean up when she finally runs out of energy. At least the black haired girl expects them to burst into the room immediately but strange enough none did.

Shana went into the bathroom to wash her gashed knuckle. She flicked the lights on and stepped in front of the basin and turned the tap. She inspected her hand and saw there was blood on Tartaros as well. When water filled the entire sink she dipped her hand with the chain. Her expression was nothing more than apathy. Her body was callous but her mind was jumbled. The black haired girl glanced at the mirror to her left. She was nothing but a thousand year old girl wearing a white dress made of gossamer.

Her hand was dripping wet as she got out the bathroom to look for something to bandage it. She did not even notice the splitting image of herself that stayed on the mirror with blazing red eyes trained to her.

She rummaged the drawers for a suitable cloth while firmly using her dress as a substitute. In a fit of frustration she pulled the whole drawer and the whole content tumbled on the carpet floor. Shana cursed and stuffed everything back. As she bent down to pick the rest of the spilled garments she cannot shake the feeling of someone watching her.

"Stop it!" she instinctively said.

The vigilance was still there. She spat curses even Alastor the god of the Crimson Realm would disapprove and Sophie Sawallisch to punish her for. Shana had made it clear not to keep watch of her. It was beyond her to be ogled like a pet. Just thinking about his eyes made her cringe. The black haired girl was about to bolt out the room and scream when she caught sight of her reflection on the dressing table. She glared at the distorted image of herself.

Shana blinked. Her eyes were burning red and her hair was scorching. She was taken aback. Her back hit the table with a vase on top that crashed on the floor.

"Wha…"

The one before her was her actual reflection as a Flame Haze. Shana raised her hand and touched her supposed flaming hair to see if it was only an illusion. Or just her mind playing tricks on her. The person on the broken mirror did the same accordingly. She shook her head and dismissed the thought. Shana almost laughed. Until the Flame Haze spoke.

"_What are you standing there for?_" her Flame Haze self mocked, "_To be useless…you feel rather well about it._"

Shana was too shocked too answer. She felt silly being judged by her own reflection. The Flame Haze had a piercing stare on her like she was an interesting bug. The stare was uncomforting that drilled holes on the back of her mind and soul. She came close to the jagged mirror as her doppelganger did where Shana could see her own expressionless face.

"_Foolish little girl, he was never more than a toy you can run around with. Or alive for that matter. You should have killed him then as Alastor suggested. Or let Wilhelmina kill him. Then maybe none of this would ever have happened-_"

"Shut up!" Shana lost it instantly and drove her fist hard on the remaining glass. Her hand broke through the wood supporting the mirror. Glass, as well as splinters pierced her already battered eyes dropped to the largest piece.

"_He's just another Torch that would go out. Like you._" her other self continued, "_What are you suppose to be? A bird he caged and forced to sing as entertainment? A trophy? It's that the reason why he captured you. Or had YOU wanted this to happen? Tell me, has he clipped your wings as well?_"

"Shut up!" she threw the piece on the wall. The glass scattered over the red carpet.

"_And what made you think the both of you we'll live happily ever after? Simply pathetic." _

"What do you want?!" Shana tried desperately to find the source of the voice but it only resonated and tortured her more. Unless it was a Rinne or a Tomogara doing this. _No, it couldn't be_, she thought, _no one knew all this_. She clenched her bleeding fist.

"_I've been watching you Shana, since you were small. Back then you would hide from Merihim and Wilhelmina to read petty fairytales, contemplating, wondering, even if you do not wholly understand-_"

"Shut up!" the black haired girl shouted picking up the shard on the floor and smashing it. The sound reverberated through the walls like it was a dream. The burning gaze studied her.

"_I am no Tomogara or Rinne. You know it in your heart... Even Alastor himself knows me._"

Her Flame Haze self moved from piece to piece. Shana followed the glowing hair of the Flame Haze until they were facing each other once again on the French windows. She narrowed her eyes to see that her other self pointed outside.

"_That is the consequence of your actions._" her hollow voice relayed.

Shana saw the army of Bal Masque move thru and fro, preparing for the ensuing battle with her fellow Flame Haze. Instances of her companions getting killed flooded her mind like a horrible and grotesque tapestry. She stepped back and shook her head.

"Go away!" she ordered herself.

"_Pity…_" her Flame Haze counterpart half smiled and tilted her head, "_I am always with you…The Perfect Flame Haze._"

"Shut up!" Shana's voice cracked, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Her feet dragged tiny sharp glasses across the rug, thrusting her bare soles. The guilt-like bile she refused to admit was collapsing her grip on reality. Shana slammed the windows shut to the balcony and drew the curtains. In the dark she thought the Flame Haze would leave. She was wrong. She could still hear her own stoic voice bouncing off the walls, if not in the broken mirrors.

Her mind ripped back. Flashes of death conjured in her thoughts. Sophie Sawallisch and other Flame Haze fought a never ending number of Denizens. Margery and Sydonay. Satou watching helplessly from the sidelines. Hecate leading the Bal Masque army. Bel Peol and the Tempest Hoof observing through the tower. Eita, Ogata even Ike and Fugita caught in an explosion from the war.

"No, no no! No…no!" she screamed and fell backwards. The images burned into her mind, her delusions becoming real before her eyes. "What's happening…?"

Kazumi stabbed by a Rinne while protecting others. Chigusa lay dead on the floor of her house, her baby beside her.

Tears were welling on her eyes. Shana covered her face with her hands.

"_Don't act like you don't know. You know what it is,_" her other voice responded. She tried to block it out.

Shana found herself in the ruins of the new world. A column of embers coiled and furled furiously in front of her. The Flame of Heaven abandoning her.

"Alastor!" Shana reached out her hand to nothing. She could not fight the tears back anymore. It flowed freely down her cheeks.

Suddenly she was shifted back in the flying fortress outside in the rubbles and flames. The Manipulator of Objects had her back towards her.

"_Failure._" she heard her guardian say harshly. Wilhelmina looked at her with disappointment before heading to fight a losing battle with Bel Peol and Hecate.

"No, Wilhelmina! I…" Shana choked back the tears.

Before she could reach out to the pink haired Flame Haze, scorching heat blast across her face. She found herself in a burning castle. Mathilde Saint-Omer's appeared. Her hair swayed fiercely in the wind. She shook her head and turned away. The predecessor was quickly gobbled up in flames. Heavy smoke rose. Shana's chest tightened. Her breathing was restricted.

"Wait!" she said, "Wait…"

Mathilde's flames vanished from her sight.

"_Why are you crying? Are you crying because you're sad and it hurts? There is no room for emotions, you said that. Why did you break the rule you made?_"

"Who are you?!" Shana said through gritted teeth. She was back in her room.

And then there was Yuji. She stopped. A blinding light left her incapacitated. He held her close to her body that Shana tore right out. The feeling vanished instantly.

"_I am you._" was the simple reply.

The black haired girl could see the translucent ember hair and the constantly burning eyes.

"_You're just going to stand by and watch?_" the cold menacing stare of the Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite rooted her in place, "_Finished what you started. Sakai Yuji was no more than a figment of a lost fantasy, a prince that died before it even came met the flame princess_."

"Stop it…" Shana muttered backing up to the wall.

"_You're afraid of him? Of someone who allowed himself to be a vessel of the god of creation? Of Sairei no Hebi?_" her Flame Haze self materialized before her. Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite had scorched and dark clothes, the same ones she wore before she even met the Mystes. Her Yogasa flowed as a gust of wind made the balcony doors burst open. She leaned down beside her and whispered softly in her ear. "_Or are you afraid of Yuji?_"

Shana only remembered the embers lining the curtains as she was consumed with unrelenting hatred, the emotion she allowed herself to have.

Yuji hurried to where Shana's room was. The lights were out, whacked off with a broken leg of a chair. The room was thrashed. There were bits of mirror everywhere. The curtains, even the bed sheets were shredded. The furniture overturned. The shelves and the ornaments were destroyed in a heap on the carpet floor. He found her on the corner.

He sensed her agony and came just in time. The supreme commander knelt down and turned her over. A cold chill went down his spine as his eyes landed on hers. Her eyes were blazing even with Tartaros undamaged.

"_Shana, do not break the contract,"_ Alastor said.

"What's happening? Shana, can you hear me? Shana!" Yuji shook her by the shoulder. She was not responding.

There was blood. She was bleeding and covered with bruises and cuts. Her eyes were pit void. The powerful commander did what he could to revive her. He could hear her heart thumping like a humming bird's wings, so fast that one might assume she was already dead. Yuji gazed at the glowing Cocytus around his neck.

"_Sakai Yuji, call her back. There's no other way. She's trying to regain her powers and it will kill her. Her body cannot take the pressure she's exerting."_ Alastor said.

"What?! With Tartaros on her?!" Sairei no Hebi held her face, "What should I do? If I remove the chain one way or another she will end up dying in the Trinity's hands."

"_Wake her, for letting her die you unleash me and by getting Tartaros off will send her biting the dust and be your destruction."_ The god of retribution, Alastor said.

Yuji did not trust Alastor well enough but what choice does he have.

"Shana! Listen to me! All of this is for you. Without you all of this will be in vain! Shana, I only wanted peace. And that peace surmounts with you by my side. Do you understand me? Don't… leave." he took her cold hand and kissed it.

Yuji pressed his lips against hers. The silence seemed forever as his body was close to her. The kiss proved to be nothing. He closed his eyes seeing the girl with the bright smile who hated being corrected and loves eating melon bread. Yuji squeezed her shoulders.

The Cocytus was burning up. He had to move quickly. Without a vessel, the Crimson god can be summoned into the human world at any moment but Yuji remained. The only thing that mattered to him the most is the intelligent, curious girl with the short temper and naïve nature. He ignored the voice of the god of Creation. The Snake of the Festival made no attempt to force him. Yuji buried his face in her hair. It smelled nice, like sweet sun baked strawberries. Why he never bothered to find out then he did not know. Her heartbeat was almost unnoticeable.

He opened his eyes and kissed her again. A tear rolled down his eyes. It tasted bitter. To the girl who changed his ordinary life. The girl who gave him the chance to actually live. The girl who taught him that it was okay to fall in love. The girl he chose that Christmas eve.

Yuji felt a hand over his cheek. It was warm and small like a child's. She was blood filthy but he did not mind if she got him dirty as well. He pulled away and saw her eyes blink once, twice. Her mouth opened but no words came. He smiled. "Shana…"

"Yuji…I…"

He caught her lips before she could say anything. It relieved him that she kissed him back. Unlike before it was chaste and gentle. Alastor was no longer alarmed and stayed silent. He had noticed what Yuji had not, the Tartaros chain was fading.

Shana wrapped her arms around him. Her irises were back to chocolate brown, something Yuji was secretly fond of. Yuji caressed her cheeks as she closed her eyes. "I love you, Shana." he said.

"I know Yuji." she replied. Shana smiled and her blazing eyes slowly opened. "_I know…_"

Yuji was caught off guard. The chain binding her Flame Haze abilities dissipated. Shana rested her head on his chest, still holding unto him. "I love you too." she whispered with the sweetest of tone.

"_Shana, the chain..._"

His eyes widened as pain jabbed through him. She struck his side where Bakuyagai's chink was exposed with a rapier she took from the wall display. He pushed her away but she steadfastly clung. Shana thrust the rapier deeper and twisted the hilt. Blood was forming up his throat. She pulled the rapier out and thrust it back to the same spot. Yuji coughed. The back of Shana's white dress cascaded in puce. He only smiled feeling her smooth skin against his touch.

In an attempt to save himself and not injure her he decided to use Dragon Tail to separate them. The Flame Haze repeatedly stabbed him. Yuji held on her firmly as she did as he felt it was the first and would be the last time that he could. His braided hair lengthened and with one strike, severed their embrace. Shana let go of him before her body got split in half. In her hand was the bloody rapier and in the other was Alastor. The supreme commander gaped. The Cocytus was between them earlier and around his neck. Now she has her contractor back. The chain had been charred and turned to ash.

"How did you...?"

"It is weakening. Bel Peol is fighting Wilhelmina. Can't you feel it, Mystes? The day of your destruction?"

The flame spread across her hair like wild fire. The Mystes of the Reiji Maigo got on his feet. The wound she inflicted on him was quickly healing but the one she made inside him was enough to crush him. Yuji reached out his hand to beckon her. She raised the rapier to his direction as an answer.

"Is this how you want it?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, Sairei no Hebi." she said coldly, not taking her eyes off him.

Those words were sharp like knives. He wiped the blood on his chin with the back of his hand. "So be it Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite." Yuji retracted his hand and Blutsauger appeared in exchange.

He used Dragon Tail once more and destroyed the entire roof above them. The building shook violently. Debris fell everywhere and the pillars collapsed. He will not miss this nor let the Trinity interfere. His opponent was unfazed. Her whole body radiated until the regeneration was complete.

"_Do you accept to die in your lover's hands?"_ Alastor asked.

"Yes…" her tone was neither meant nor taken lightly. "If he _kills_ me while I summon you."

_Just like Mathilde_, the Flame of Heaven said.

"NEITONO NO SHANA!" Shana shouted above the tempest of destruction.

AN: Well? Any comment? I think Yuji's better off with the long hairdo. Anybody agree? Heh, what a big change he had since the first season so I really did expect Shana to just slit his throat or something…sadly even in the manga she was beaten. A big wtf to that. You failed me Shana-chan!

-midnightgamin


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